After Dinner
by bymak
Summary: It's been eight years since they have been topside, would a conversation after dinner change their future? Based on a scene of Leap Year, if you haven't watched the movie and want to, go for it before you read this one. :)


Hi there, there were some extremely complex work weeks, and I needed to escape my world. And this happened.

Enjoy.

M.

PS: Thanks to all the people who pointed out that this is based on a scene of the movie "Leap Year." I knew it came from somewhere!

**After dinner**

There was something in the way the sun shone in her hair that, for some reason, was still brown.

There was also something in the way her eyes always lightened up, marveled with the most little things. Even after all the pain and losses she had suffered in her long life.

There was something in the way she bit the inner part of her cheeks when in doubt, or her lower lip when in focus. There was something tremendously endearing in watching her knee-deep in sewer water while trying to save yet another life for which she would get no recognition. Not that all the thousands of lives she had safeguarded were less impressive or less worth than this one.

Nah, it was just that most people would've searched the fame and fortune that could come from such feats. Although Helen Magnus was widely known in their world and she didn't need the wealth per se, she had managed reasonably well while alone and hiding during her second attempt at the current timeline. Not that she hadn't handled herself well in her first attempt at it either.

"William, whenever you finish reminiscing and are ready to join us back into the real world, we are ready to move him," she grinned. He blushed and shook his head before moving towards them.

'Caught, so totally caught,' he thought as he walked.

The 'he' who needed moving, for once, was a human. He would be transported to a nearby hospital as soon as they got him out of the ditch he had fallen into after deciding to be the prey for the abnormal that had escaped the hollow earth and found its way to the upper world.

Collateral damage, that he was.

They got topside as soon as they figured where the abnormal surfaced, and luckily for them, it wasn't anywhere near a big city. However, the man and his family who were previously having a back-yard picnic to enjoy the beautiful spring day had fallen prey to the dragon-like abnormal.

The Sanctuary retrieval team was now bigger, faster, and stealthier in the matters of securing escaped abnormals or helping topside ones who found themselves in dangerous situations. However, they still didn't exist anymore on that side of the world since the days after Magnus Old City disappearance act, eight years earlier.

However, no matter how fast they could move or how quickly they had secured the abnormal, it was too late for the family to escape unscathed.

All the members of the family ended up with injuries of various degrees. To prevent the horrid death of his son, the father had made himself the prey. Thanks to the father's actions, his son ended with a collection of scratches on arms and neck, from those terrifying moments when he was a pray of the creature clutches. The wife had covered their baby and had also received the abnormal claws into her skin, but it was the male, the one who ended up being the most damaged.

The team had quickly assessed the situation and secured the creature, allowing the medical members to spread for damage control. Helen had jumped on the ditch, and William had watched her shout orders and act until she deemed the male as ready to be moved. Once he was out, she gave instructions to secure him into one of their trucks and reached the family.

As Helen spoke with the wife, William observed as the containment truck was packed and quickly disappeared in the general direction from where they had come.

The second containment car was being prepared as transport for the unconscious male and his family. And the other two vehicles that composed their convoy where being quickly packed. He blinked and saw as Helen accompanied the family to the containment truck and assured them everything would be all right.

Then, once the vehicle was leaving on the opposite way, Helen called over the two drivers left for a talk. He saw her walking towards him with a cat who ate the canary expression and biting her inner cheeks; she stopped right next to him.

"They are waiting for you, William," she said after a while and passed him a set of keys.

"What do you mean with 'for you, William'?" he quoted, squinting at her.

"Don't give me that look, William," she shook her head. "You know perfectly well, we both can't possibly fit in there. There's a bit of space for you."

He looked at the vehicles in question and noticed that having lost one to the family and the other to the abnormal, people had piled up on the remaining ones. The only spot open was the driver's seat of one.

"What about you, Helen?" he asked, squinting at her.

"Me?" she frowned in confusion.

"Well, unless you see another Helen around," he chuckled, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm staying behind. Now, hurry, William."

"What do you mean with staying behind, Helen?" he asked, arms crossing in front of his chest. She raised her eyebrow, not surprised by his attitude. It was, she thought, quite endearing.

"What is it with you asking what I'm already affirming?" Helen grinned, shaking her head. "William, it's been ages since the last time I came topside. It's a beautiful day, and we are in the middle of nowhere. I'm certain I've survived worse than this. I've got my pack, which is all I need to survive for a week, and you know this."

"Maverick!" William shouted, making Helen frown as they watched as one guy untangled himself out of the SUV, and rush towards them. "Can you find my pack?" he shouted before he was too close to them.

"Yes, Doctor Zimmerman!" The boy grinned as he jogged back to the truck. He opened the trunk and started rummaging through it. Helen watched this with her eyebrow raised before she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Pray tell the meaning of this, William," she said, and he still found charming the way she still hung to her so-called proper English.

"Well, if you are staying. I'm staying," William stated, making Helen roll her eyes.

"I don't need a chaperone, William," she pointed out.

"What about a friend?" he asked and watched her open and close her mouth, trying to come up with a reason for him not to stay. "Besides, it's been almost the same amount of ages since I've been topside too," he pouted at her, and that did it. She chuckled and shook her head as Maverick slowly strolled towards them.

"Doctor Magnus," he said in awe, lowering Will's pack on the floor in front of them right next to Helen's.

"Maverick, nice work today. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have caught it," Helen grinned rather charmingly. William tried not to smile as the guy was all but swoon.

"Thanks, Doctor Magnus."

"Maverick, give this to Elinor. The Doctor saw something rare and thinks she needs to find out what it was," Will said, passing him the keys.

Helen looked at Will with narrowed eyes, a bit intrigued by his explanation. She usually would do things without explaining her reasons.

"Go, we will radio home when we are ready to return," Will said to the doubting young man.

"Off you go," Helen added, and the star-struck boy almost floated back to the truck. They watched the SUVs disappear into the horizon and soon found themselves all alone standing on a road in the middle of nowhere.

"Pray tell, Doctor. What are we doing now?" Helen chuckled.

"After all this time, your imitation of me is still quite awful, William." She said, turning around as she started to walk. "There was a village a few miles this way. Thus, now we walk."

"We walk?" Will rolled his eyes before he grabbed his pack and followed. "Won't you change your boots, at least?"

"What for?" she answered, slowing her pace to fall in step with his. "They are already ruined."

"That they are," he added after checking her boots.

They strolled through the middle of the empty road for miles, enjoying the sun and the pure air from topside until they heard a car honking at them to get out of the way. At 281 years old, Helen was still very agile and poised as she always had been. But at 42, Will's situational clumsiness still was following him around, and this time was no exception.

"William, careful!" Helen warned when she slid a few inches before she got her ground. However, warning or not, Will's best chance was to drop his backpack before his bum hit the floor, and he went down the slope and right into muddy waters.

"Great, just awesome!" Will huffed, sitting in soaked clothes after struggling to get up and failing. Helen giggled. "Helen, will you stop giggling and help me out of here?"

"Promise you won't pull me into it, and you got a deal," she smiled

"Fine! I promise I won't pull you in," he huffed. "Just come and help me, will you?" Will finished with a pout.

Shaking her head amusedly, she dropped her backpack next to his and carefully half walked, half slid her way down to him. She found some ground to get her footing secured and extended her hands to him. After he took them, it was a matter of time before they were next to their backpacks.

"How is it possible that you always end up soaked, William? Do you have an attraction towards muddy waters I'm not aware of?" Helen joked, shouldering her backpack.

"Ha, ha. Hilarious, Helen. No, I don't fancy being soaked any more than I fancy being hurt. If you turn around, I'll get some dry pants before we continue." Helen frowned as she looked towards the sky.

"I believe that won't be necessary, William," she said, lowering her backpack and quickly finding a waterproof jacket. The moment she finished tightening it against her frame, the rain started.

"You got to be joking!"

"What are you complaining about, William? It is rain!" She added in delight. "It's been eight years since the last time you were under one of these!" she shouted, raising her head to feel the soft caress of the drops and listening to the telltale sounds of him scouting his backpack.

"I would love to stand and enjoy this lovely weather with you, Helen. But we are yet to find that village you thought you saw, and we still need to walk to it under this rain," Will said as he zipped his jacket up.

"It could be worse," she shrugged.

"Worse?" He asked. Looking down at his situation, mud-covered, soaking wet, and his only source of heat was a waterproof jacket that hadn't proved to be of much help due to his previous condition.

"Yes, this light rain could be," a thunder blocked her next words as the soft rain became a storm.

"A storm," she finished. "Come on, William, there's no sense of being still now, we better move to allow our bodies to create some warmth."

They walked hurriedly in the direction they were strolling before, Helen kept glancing at him, trying to make sure he was all right. It was just when his lips started to turn on a worrying hue of blue when she finally saw it.

"William, there it is!" she shouted to be heard over the noise of the storm. "Run!" she said, and they started racing to the nearest door. They took refuge under an entrance arc that at least covered them from the heavy rain.

"Now, how we know which one is a bar? Or a B&B?" Will asked, his teeth chattering hard. Helen's hand found his forehead, and she worriedly bit her lower lip.

"You stay put here. I will check it!" She said.

"But Helen!" he whined.

"No, William. I'm drier and warmer. It's a medical order," she said thoughtfully. Will huffed as he watched her disappear under the heavy rain.

He was about to collapse out of the cold when she held his hand. Warmth swept through his body before he was dragged again into the gray sights. He couldn't feel how cold the drops were now because he was as cold as them. Almost blindly, Helen raced them both until she stopped them inside the porch of a two stories white house and knocked its door.

Under the safety of the covered porch, she noticed exactly how blue Will's lips were and how pale he was. She dropped her backpack on the floor, getting rid of her raincoat, she moved to help him out of his coat, but he was trembling so much that she could not get him out of it.

His shirt was still moist from the places where he had connected with the muddy water. Between his fall and the pouring rain, he was drenched. Dirty clothes and all, she didn't hesitate and embraced him tightly, her hands sneaking inside his raincoat to bring him closer to her, hoping that at least he would be warmer while someone came to open the door for them.

"Oh, dear Lord!" A woman's voice said as soon as the wooden door creaked open. "You poor things! Come on in!"

"Joanna? Who is it at the door in this awful weather?" A man shouted then.

"The sign outside said this is a hostel?" Helen said, not leaving Will's side, helping him close to a fireplace.

"Yes, ma'am. You and your husband are in luck, we have only one room left," the man said. "Are those yours?" he pointed to the forgotten packs still on the porch. Helen nodded.

"Yes, only but one room," Joanna said. "We had to ask the couple that came yesterday to continue their travel. They wanted one room, and they weren't even married!" the woman confessed in horror.

Helen took a chance to look around and tried not to cringe. At least it was a roof over their heads, she thought.

"The nerve of those people, no respect for the customs of this land. Now, you two seem like a lovely couple. Have you been married long?" Joanna asked.

Helen turned around and faced the owners, taking a few steps away from William now that he had seemed to retrieve some color in his features. She finally got him out of his rain jacket, and the owner extended his hands politely to take it.

"Yes, we've been together for almost twelve years now," Helen grinned. 'Working together and being married can't be more different, Helen. You haven't ever kissed this man', she thought.

"And what's your name?" Joanna asked curiously.

"I'm Helen, and that's William." The woman frowned. "My husband," Helen added with a smile, and Joanna approvingly nodded before she rolled her eyes.

"I meant the last name," the older-looking woman smiled.

"Zimmerman," Helen said without batting an eye. "I'm sorry, but we never caught your names?" She asked, noticing the look on Will's eyes.

"We are the Thompson's. Joanna and Richard."

"Well, Mrs. and Mr. Thompson, if you will have us in your lovely inn, we would like to get changed into less soggy clothes," Helen smiled. "I'm afraid my husband is on the verge of hypothermia."

"Yes, yes! This way." Joanna said, grinning at them.

Helen picked both of their backpacks from the place Richard had dragged them before they followed Joanna to the second floor. Showing them the last door at the left of the corridor, Mrs. Thompson opened it and allowed them space to enter the room.

It was cozy, to say something about it.

On the left side of the door, there was a bedside table. Next to it, the bed took all over the space and ended up plastered against the wall. There was a lamp hanging on top of the wall side of the bed.

At the feet of the double size bed, there was an armoire. Straight in front of the door, there was a cubicle they guessed it was the toilet and beside it, a wall of glass bricks. The remaining wall was partially free, keeping only a small desk and two chairs.

"Shower, toilet, our architect said it is a modern look," Joanna pointed to the glass disappointed. "We asked him where the bathroom wall was, and he said that was it, the nerve of that man. Now we have to save again to finish it."

As Joanna complained, Helen walked in and lowered her backpack on the floor next to the desk, and Will did the same.

"I hope you won't mind it. I suppose that being married for twelve years, you have seen everything there's to be seen. There are towels in the armoire, and shall you need anything we are downstairs until twenty-one hour," Joanna finished.

"Thank you, Mrs. Thompson. We will join you as soon as we get cleaned," Helen said.

"Oh, yes. Of course, Dears." The Doctors' exchanged a glance, but the woman wouldn't take the hint. "When you are ready, bring your dirty clothes down, and I'll see they get cleaned and dried."

"Excellent, Mrs. Thompson. We will," Helen added, joining the woman by the door and, at the same time leaning in a way that told her she had overstayed her welcome. By then, Helen was far more worried about Will's state than her manners.

"Helen, what the hell was that?" Will frowned. She shook her head.

"Later, William. Now, you must get out of those wet clothes and into a nice warm shower."

"Ladies first," he said.

"Not a chance, William. You went legs first into a pond and then walked under a pouring rain with your rain jacket as the only not wet thing in you. For what I can tell, you were almost hypothermic when we arrived, and I'm certain you still are cold at the touch, and you haven't finished trembling yet."

"Let me remind you, Helen, that you went walking under the same pouring rain I was, and you walked here and back to get me," Will pointed out.

"Yes, well. I'm not only not as heavily drenched as you are; my abnormalities allow me to function in lower temperatures than you do. You know this, William," Helen pleaded, raising her eyebrow in warning. He braced himself, not relenting.

"Still, you get into the shower, warm-up, and then I follow, is chivalry." Helen snorted, stood up in front of him and started tugging his shirt out of his pants.

"This isn't chivalry; it's stupidity, William," she muttered, her voice at least one octave lower than she would typically use with him. "Compared with you, my blouse, upper part of my pants, and most importantly, my feet are all dry."

He held his breath as he felt her hands unbuttoning his shirt and almost stopped breathing as they drifted through his chest, to force him to remove the soaked item out of him. Then, she took a step back.

"Therefore, I'm drier than you are, so off you go to the shower. And don't you dare to complain, or I'll be forced to take you into that thing myself," Helen finished seriously. He nodded, making a great effort in not blush.

He walked away, still unable to breathe, and even less capable of utter a word. Yes, it was years since he was the easily impressed guy who entered her domains, but if William was smitten by her before... Now, after twelve years of knowing Helen, working by her side daily, that feeling had mutated to a profound, and never to be disclosed, love.

William adored every step she took, but he had yet to admit it to anyone else. Yes, he had attempted some relationships after Abby, however, just like with the agent and Clara before her, none of them passed his comparison to Helen. And soon, his ties were finished almost as fast as they started. He had it so bad that the sole idea of Helen dragging him to the shower had left him incredibly aroused.

Once he turned the lights on behind the glass wall, his form was visible to Helen. She hummed, turning away from it and attempting to get rid of her boots. Once done, she rummaged through her backpack to find the small computer, and printer Henry always forced her to pack.

"You'll never know when you'll need a new ID," she muttered, imitating Henry before she smiled. Then, William moaned, and she thought, this time, she might have bitten more than she could chew as the sound made her feel all sorts of unappropriated warmth and needs.

Oh, yes. Helen could hide it from everyone except herself; Magnus knew she was in love with William. At first, he had reminded her of John, with his youthful eagerness. That Will was so easily impressed and genuinely smitten by her made her cautious around him. Then he matured, she had watched him mourn her death, and had almost lost him to her choices. But he had, in the end, accepted her proposition eagerly and remained behind with her.

It was when Nikola abandoned the city, three years after William's arrival to the hollow earth's sanctuary that she had noticed it. He wasn't the smitten young boy but a caring man. Will wasn't easily impressionable anymore; he was wise and quick to act. Will Zimmerman was who Helen needed in the unlikely case of her demise. He wasn't the protege anymore and had become her equal in his own right.

His years were showing rather favorably too. There even was a sexy hint of gray in his hair now. She bit her lower lip, and her mind began to provide her with images of him when the shower stopped. She groaned and shook her head. She had kept it in check for years now; she could certainly keep it in check for a night.

"Your turn," he said, and she had to chuckle.

He had his towel wrapped against his chest, and she was sure she had seen his chest thousands of times between his injuries and medicals for him to feel that awkward. Or at least enough times for her mind to remind her exactly how he looked under that towel.

"What's that?" He asked, and Helen blushed before she followed his line of sight.

"Oh, Henry. He is always telling me how we never know when we might need some IDs," she said as he changed his weight from one foot to the other. "Let me grab something to wear, and I'll be out of your hair."

She rummaged through her bag, grabbing some pieces of clothes before she stood up and moved one chair to be closer to the shower.

"Toss me your clothes; I will take them downstairs when dressed," he shouted.

"I'm coming out," she shouted back.

If Will was breathless before, he was at heart attack point now. Helen Magnus was coming out of the glass wall, covered only with a towel, her clothes in a tight ball. She raised her eyebrow when he didn't react, opting to keep his two hands firmly secured against the thin towel covering his body.

Feeling awkward, Helen searched the room to find his pile of dirty clothes, and lowered hers next to his, before she turned around and walked back to the shower. It wasn't until he heard the water running that he blinked away the fact that she came out only wearing a towel.

Was she anyone else, and he years younger, he would've allowed his towel to drop, and wait for her to react to his action. But he wasn't that young anymore, and she wasn't anyone else.

'It's Helen! Control yourself, Zimmerman!' He chastised himself. He dressed as quickly as he could, almost tripping twice when trying to get into his pants.

Then, William heard a soft whimper coming from the shower, and he hurriedly grabbed the pile of dirty clothes before rushing downstairs. He took his sweet time getting back to the room until he finally decided that walking a mile in a short corridor was as stupid as it looked and dared to knock the door.

"Enter," Helen's firm voice answered him. "Feeling better, William?" She asked.

She was sitting by the desk working on the laptop, and she had looked up to check him. He left out a blank smile since all his mind could provide was: what the hell does it take to make her whimper like that again?

"William?"

"Hmm?"

"I've asked if you are feeling better, which clearly you aren't."

She stood up, and her hand found his forehead before she searched for his wrist to check his pulse, and then one breathtaking hand touched his naked torso. He yelped.

"Weird, you are warm now," she frowned.

"I…"

"Describe me your symptoms, William," she said.

"I'm fine, Helen."

"You don't seem fine," she squinted. "Did you hit your head when you fell?" Helen wondered, her hand reaching for his scalp.

"No," he left out on an almost sigh as her hand caressed the back of his head.

"What then?" she asked, taking a step back.

William looked at her, he still could feel her hands on his chest and hair, and the sound of her whimper resounded in his brain. He closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"William?"

"Hmm, I kind of offered you to make dinner for all the guests and us," he muttered.

"You did what?" She frowned amused.

"They were inquiring about our marriage, and besides the twelve years of marriage we supposedly share, I didn't know what to say. So, I told them you love cooking but don't have enough time to do it when we are in town. One thing led to the other, and Mrs. Thompson is now waiting to know what you will need to feed four couples. We included," he said, not looking up. Helen shook her head.

"Very well then, I'm about finished with the IDs. I was a click away from printing yours." She turned around and walked to the computer and pressed the screen. The small printer came to life, and soon it was spitting an id. "Here, Mr. Zimmerman."

"How did you get this?" Will asked eyeing the id.

"Henry has a basic template for all the teams and countries from where we might originate. Yours was easier than mine, which needs changes on the silly things," she explained as she rummaged her bag in search of something.

"Silly things?" Will asked, and she seemed to find whatever she was searching for.

"Yes," she said, and then walked to pick the second printed ID and gave it to him. "You know the date of birth and such." He shook his head, and they walked down.

"Ah, here you are," Joanna said when the stairs cringed with their weight, and she looked up to see them coming downstairs.

"Yes, I've heard my husband has offered my services at the kitchen," Helen grinned.

"He sounded very excited about your cooking skills," Joanna said.

"I must warn you I haven't cooked in a while, Mrs. Thomson," the old lady looked disappointed. "But I took cooking lessons from a Cordon bleu Chef, don't you worry about it. I'll have it done in no time."

"Oh dear, we usually pick our vegetables from the garden and is still pouring out there."

"Can you show me what you have then?" The woman nodded, and after searching around the kitchen, Helen smiled. "There's no lactose intolerant or celiac disease listed among the guests?"

"No," Joanna frowned, and judging by the lady's expression, Helen hoped it didn't come to another case of her treating sick people.

"If you agree, then I'll make a wonderful Fettuccine Alfredo," Helen smiled. "William, be a dear and help me out here to allow Mrs. Thompson some rest."

"Sure," Will said.

The woman eyed them for a while, not sure if she was comfortable giving up her space. But Helen just ignored her and started searching for a bowl she could use.

"Oh, I got the IDs you needed, Mrs. Thompson," Will added, searching his back pocket for the fake ones Helen printed.

"Excellent! I will fill the papers for you with these," Joanna grabbed the offered documents. She made sure they were William and Helen Zimmerman, and that both appeared as married. She raised her head and grinned brightly at them when she noticed her guests weren't lying.

By the time Will had turned around, willing to help her. Helen had her hair braided and out of her face. Also, she had found an apron that was snuggly tied to her lithe frame, and, to Will's amusement, she was sporting a look of concentration similar to the one she wore in the Operating Room, even if she was only beating some eggs.

"Need any help?" He asked, and she handed him the eggs bowl and grabbed a second one where she mixed flour and salt. Then she instructed him how to pour the eggs over the mix she was handling, and he noticed then she was wearing gloves. "Where did you got those?"

"My bag," she shrugged. "I have a couple more in my pocket if you need them."

"Will I need them?"

"Most likely. We will need to stretch the dough to make the fettuccine," Helen shrugged. "You will need to get them out, I already have my hands covered," Helen finished showing him her dough covered gloves.

"Where?"

"Back pocket," she casually added before she continued kneading the dough.

Will walked towards her, and as he approached her, he noticed the gloves barely poking out of the back pocket of her tight-fitting jeans. He started to organize his books mentally as he stretched his fingers towards her lovely back assets.

"I think we are ready to the next step, William," she said in a low, husky voice.

Her voice tone came from the feeling of his eyes in her derriere. Unknown to her, it had sent a jolt through Will's body. With his emotions out of control, he picked the tip of the glove and pulled it too hard, sending it flying upwards.

To avoid getting hit, he tried to move out of the way and effectively managed to trip. As he fell, in what it felt like slow motion, he grabbed Helen's hips to try to stabilize his body, bringing her towards him and down. She laughed wholeheartedly. It was a beautiful sound, but also was highly arousing, and to Will's chagrin, she was sitting on the floor right between his legs.

"How do you manage to keep testing gravity in the most original ways, William?" she shook her head. "You need to get up and help me up. I can't use my hands as support without having to throw away the gloves."

"I… I.. pulled the gloves, and then it, boom," he attempted explaining still not standing up. She turned around to watch him and had to fight the urge to kiss him. He was too close and was looking utterly adorable with his whole face tinted red. "Here, I'll stand and then help you."

Closeness, she was starting to hate the feeling of it.

If falling against William wasn't already as arousing as it was, having him standing inches away from her when he pulled her up was a drenching experience. Helen controlled her expression as fast as she could and reacted quickly, taking one step away and chastising herself.

'You will scare the kid away, Helen,' she thought. 'He is not a kid anymore, Helen,' she grinned, and thanked him and shook her head. 'Everyone is a kid for you, Helen.'

"Is everything all right?" Will asked, watching her not moving from her place only one step away from him.

"Yes. Let's finish this. Shall we?" Will nodded, and they continued cooking, trying hard not to mess up and get in close grounds again.

"We shall set the table; these are meant to be ready at any moment now," Helen announced.

"Are you going to teach me proper 1800 etiquette?" Will joked as he observed her place the cutlery carefully. Helen raised her eyebrow even before she raised her eyes to him.

"Well, I could. But I'm quite certain you'll get obsessed about it, and I'll never hear the end of it. Here, this is how we set this," Helen said, smiling. She set one place before Will started imitating what she was doing.

They had worked together thousands of times, but Helen couldn't remember any time in which her hands had encountered his in this innocent caressing grazing they seemed incapable of stopping, and that was wreaking havoc in her body.

"You can finish here, and I'll finish the meal. Once you do, you can let them know it is ready," Helen stated, and Will nodded in agreement.

He observed her go back to the kitchen, and when she was out of his sight, he took a couple of big breaths to keep himself focused; it didn't work. But he fixed the remaining places breaking nothing and walked towards the front desk once he was done.

"Mrs. Thompson, Helen says dinner is about to be done. Will you want me to run upstairs and call the guests?"

"If you don't mind, dear, yes. Just knock at the doors." Joanna said.

As instructed, Will rushed up and knocked every door calling them for dinner. Then he walked down to find the Thompsons already seated by the table.

"Please, take a seat. Tonight is special, Helen has cooked for us," Joanna announced to the couples that walked behind William.

"I should go check if she needs help," Will said and disappeared into the kitchen. "Helen? Do you need a hand?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do," Helen smiled gratefully. "Can you take that to the table? I found a decent wine in their cellar that should fit in nicely. Remind me to send them some decent wine when we get back home as a courtesy for letting us stay."

"Technically, we are still paying for it," Will pointed.

"Technically, they still could ask us to leave whenever they want," Helen added, grabbing the remaining items they would need.

They walked outside, to an almost full table. They already occupied six of the eight places and that left them not much of a choice after they lowered the things they were carrying right in the middle of the table.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't do much more. Mrs. Thompson, would you like to do the honors?" Helen offered, and the old lady grinned before she stood up and grabbed the pasta spoon.

"Oh, where are our manners, William," Helen said. "I'm Helen, and this is William, my husband," she announced. Beside her, Will stopped moving. Helen kicked him softly under the table to make him react. "I haven't heard your names?"

"They are the Jones," Joanna said, pointing to a couple looking around their thirties, "and those are our newlyweds, the Stevens."

"Pleased to meet you, and how did you ended up in this lovely village, pray tell?" Helen asked, getting a kick from William and a pointed look.

She smiled, and Will had to give it to her, her charisma was mesmerizing to almost everyone. Something that until he spoke with the people who knew her pre-serum had him wondering if it was pure Helen or an abnormality of hers.

"Don't get me wrong it is a lovely place. It is just too far away from everything," Helen chuckled.

"I'm Anna," Mrs. Stevens started. "Joe and I got married, and we didn't have enough money to afford a honeymoon. But I wanted to travel so much, and then Joe proposed a backpacking route for some months before we get back to our little village and home."

"That's lovely, and you?" Helen asked, looking at the other couple; they exchanged a guilty look.

"The Jones have been joining us here for ages now," Joanna said. "This is delicious, Helen, your husband, didn't misguide us at all."

"Ages, you say?" Helen raised her eyebrow, "And thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for trusting your kitchen into my hands."

"Yes, they have been coming on and off for the better part of two years," Richard half barked in between bites.

"Really, what's there to do around here?" Will asked, now confused.

As far as they knew, the village had five blocks, and there were only farms and mountains in the area.

"Research." Mr. Jones said in a clipped tone.

"You are botanists? Or geologist?" Helen asked.

"I forgot already, but I know they are researching about the supposed entrance to hell," Joanna chuckled.

"Entrance to hell?" Anna asked with widened eyes.

"That's a lot of silliness," Mr. Thompson added. "To keep the children away from the mountains."

"Can you share the story?" Helen asked with one of her curious smiles, and Will had yet to find someone who could say no to it.

"There's a myth surrounding the mountains. It's been said for generations that the entrance to Hell lies within the hollows of the mountains. The rumor says that beings who would only belong to hell can escape through there. Most farmers agree that the most terrible creatures would attack the cattle and steal from the granaries. There are also stories of people who tried to find the way and never returned." Joanna explained to them in a low voice.

Helen and Will exchanged a glance, both figuring that the so-called gates of hell were the entrance to the hollow Earth they had used.

"That's a good local folk," Will said. "So, you are studying the area to see what can cause people to disappear? Or are you in search of the mysterious beings?"

"We prefer not to discuss business with strangers," Mrs. Jones answered.

"Sounds fair," Helen shrugged.

"What about you?" Joe asked. "We didn't even know there was a new couple."

"Oh, they reached with the storm! The poor things were soaked."

"And how did you find the village?" Mr. Jones inquired.

"It's not even a funny history," Helen sighed. "We were going to a medical symposium with our friends. We rented some trucks to go across the country, thinking it would be fun. When we were some miles away from here, we saw an accident. So, being all Doctors, we couldn't do more than help them. Once we stabilized the injured, we had to get them to a place where they could get some proper care. One of the uninjured mentioned a hospital some length away from here," she shrugged. "We tried to rearrange the space, but someone wouldn't fit."

"Helen mentioned seeing this village when passing by, and we decided to remain behind. As we started to walk, the rain joined us," Will finished with a grin.

"They should be able to pick us in the morning," Helen added.

After that, Magnus changed subjects quickly, keeping the guest entertained as she always did. Helen kept the conversation so light that they even learned the Jones' were named Andrea and Michael.

It was once they were sitting with empty plates; the rain echoed through the house, and the one bottle of wine became three when Anna kissed Joe, and it quickly became heated. To Helen's surprise, Joanna clapped her hands cheerfully.

"That's exactly what will keep you two together for as long as you live," Joanna said.

"What?" Anna asked, blushing brightly, noticing they had gone overboard in front of strangers.

"Kissing," Joanna explained. "We've been together for forty years, and there's no day when we don't kiss passionately. It reminds us of why we are still together and how much we still love each other." Joanna then kissed Richard, and soon they all had looked away. "Now, you," she said, pointing to the Jones.

"Now, we what?" Andrea frowned.

"You kiss! I can tell you how much you will last for the way you kiss," Joanna said happily.

"We will not kiss in front of all of you," Micheal affirmed.

"Why not? You are married, we are all married. It is nothing we hadn't seen before, and besides, it is just innocent kissing," Joanna said.

Helen took a moment to steal a glance towards Will and shivered. She knew by the way he was looking around that as much as he was paying attention to the situation, the other shoe still hadn't landed for him. And he was yet to process the future of the conversation.

"Go on, just kiss her."

"We won't kiss in front of strangers," Micheal said again.

"You are correct in that, Micheal. They are all strangers, and the chances are that after breakfast, you won't ever see them again," Joanna said.

"But we see them now," Andrea pointed.

"Are you married? Or have you been pulling our hairs to do that research of yours?" Richard asked, sternly.

"We are married," Andrea said. "He doesn't like public displays of affection. It doesn't go with his image."

"Well, we don't need your image. Now, kiss."

"If you are married as you say, I'll recommend you to do it, Joanna won't let it go," Richard added.

Andrea sighed and turned herself towards Micheal. He was leaning back in the chair and with his arms crossed in front of his chest. She grabbed his face and kissed him soundly on the mouth, and he growled.

"There, done!" Micheal barked.

"But?" Joanna tried, hopefully.

"Joanna," Richard warned, and she huffed.

"Very well then, if that's how you kiss. I'm sorry to tell you; you won't last much together." She turned towards Helen and Will and grinned. "Now, what about you two?"

"What about us?" William frowned, and Helen chuckled.

"Oh, William; always so oblivious," she whispered.

Helen's hand raised to his face and caressed it softly until her fingers tangled between his hair. Something she always wanted to do but never allowed herself to do it unless it was for medical purposes.

She bit her lower lip slowly, and then the shoe dropped for Will. Helen noticed the exact moment in which his eyes were about to widen in surprise. So, she brought his head closer to hers and grazed his lips with hers slowly before the older couple noticed his panic.

He swore internally, between Helen biting her lips while looking at him as if he was the sexiest man alive, and her fingers tangling softly in his hair, Will had issues controlling his body and panicked, his mind filled with what if's. But the moment her hand brought his head towards hers and her lips grazed his, he threw all caution to the wind. If, after this, he had to stand up and show exactly how much her actions had affected him, he would at least have a good reason for it.

And then, he kissed her back.

It surprised her when his lips started to move against hers, and she couldn't help but part her lips in response. They were kissing, with more passion that neither of them could imagine they would in such a public situation, each taking and receiving more and more with each movement of their lips. They were kissing as if their lives depended on deepening it and memorizing any crevice in the other mouth.

It was a combination of a cheer from Anna and the sound of their own moaning what brought them back to the present. Helen bit Will's lip slowly before surprising him by caressing his nose with the tip of hers. She pulled away slowly, suckling her lower lip, tasting him on her lips, while trying to convey in her look some comfort for him, although she was having issues controlling herself.

'It was just a kiss, Helen,' she thought, 'you've kissed hundreds before.' Still, she could not get her eyes out of his gaze and was fighting the need to launch herself forward again and attack those adorably swollen lips of his. She shook her head when she heard Joanna clear her throat. The old lady had a smile that could brighten a small town and made them blush even more.

"I'm sorry, this must be the first time we kiss in public after a long time," Helen blushed. That added to Will's emotional rollercoaster.

Helen never blushed anymore, she mastered innuendo with ease, and she could make any situation the right moment to flirt with men and women alike, no matter if they were in peril or sitting on a long boring meeting. For twelve years, he had seen her doing it, yet he had never seen her blush, and Will couldn't help but wonder if that blush went beyond her face or if there were other moments of uncontrollable pleasure where that lovely shade of red would cover more of her.

"Oh, dears! I understand why you wouldn't kiss in public!" Joanna chirped, waving one hand in front of her face. "If you know each other for as long as you do, and still kiss like it is the first time you ever did, you'll have many years of bliss ahead. Isn't that right, Richard?"

"Yes. Joanna is right," he nodded in agreement.

"Can you excuse us now?" the Jones added, looking to all the people around the table.

"Of course, dears. All of you can be excused whenever you are ready."

"Oh, we should help clean," Will said, trying to change subjects and immediately reminding himself of his slightly uncomfortable situation.

"Oh, no. You cooked; we will help clean today!" Anna clapped, standing up to collect the dishes.

"But there is no rush, Anna," Will added, and Helen could read the mild panic in his voice.

"Yes, no rush at all," Helen agreed.

She glanced at Will and thought he looked weird; she chalked it up under needing more time to process what had just happened before he was stuck in a room with her. Helen was confident that being forced into a kiss wasn't exactly what William was expecting when he decided to remain behind with her.

"Do tell, how did you two meet?" she asked, and Joanna started to tell them their story.

It was at least an hour later when they were ushered upstairs to sleep. The awkward kiss situation was all but forgotten to all the other people around the table, but them. They strolled up in silence, and William opened the door for her allowing her to enter the room first. He doubted by the door, and she raised an eyebrow not wanting to understand she was the reason for his inconvenience.

"William?" she called. "Is everything all right?" He nodded and closed the door.

'No,' he thought, "Yes," he let out.

"Are you sure? You haven't been acting up quite like yourself for a while," she said, frowning.

"It must have been the wine," he said. Helen eyed him and nodded, if that were what he was going for, she wouldn't be the one commenting on it.

"Well, If you don't mind, I'll take a quick shower to cool off and get ready for bed," she said, and he nodded.

'Come on, William; you can't be reacting to her as a twelve-year-old to his first crush!' He scolded himself as he plopped himself in the bed. He decided after a few moments that watching her silhouette wasn't helping his case, and he stood up to fight with his backpack to find something to wear to bed.

"Oh, I'll be damned!" he swore to himself when Helen came out of the shower, wearing the thinnest strap camisole and the shortest pairs of shorts he had ever seen. And he had only seen the front of it; she had a silk robe hanging open from her shoulders.

And damn it, over the last twelve years he had seen her in every possible combination of black, but this one. The black silk against all that creamy white skin was too much to take in for his senses. She frowned again to his strange behavior before she walked towards the bed and left her robe on a chair near it. With a practiced movement, she opened the covers and slid on the bed.

"I will get changed!" he announced after seeing her somewhat comfortable. Helen huffed and scrubbed her face tiredly.

"I guess we need to talk about the kiss if we want to get this awkwardness away," she muttered before she turned to the only bedside table.

Magnus grabbed the book she had placed there before and turned on the lamp that hung above her head. When William finally got out of behind the shower, she stopped reading but kept the book open, following his moves. Helen observed him walk around, doubting what to do with himself.

"There's plenty of space in this bed, William, and we have been in close quarters before." She smiled. "Come, I'll scoot more, and you'll have all the space in the world." She scurried to the almost end of the bed, her body almost touching the wall.

"Do you mind if I turn off the lights?" he asked, sitting on the bed.

"Go ahead, I could use the sleep," Helen smiled, passing him the book and turning the bedlamp she was using off. He stood up, turned the lights off, and felt his way back, plopping himself heavily on the bed.

William risked a glance towards Helen and saw her turning around, facing the window, and smiled. She was giving him all the space she could. But, the moon shone, and he could make up her contour easily and figured that with such vision, he wouldn't sleep easily, and with all that light, her chances weren't all that better. He turned watching the ceiling instead of her form and noticed that she was telling him the truth; there was plenty of space with her sideways. They didn't even touch.

"Helen?" He said and facepalmed himself.

"Hmm?"

"Why you don't call me Will anymore?" he asked, surprised by his question. Helen frowned.

"Whatever you mean?" she said, she turned her head towards him even if she couldn't see him.

"It's been ages since the last time you called me Will," he frowned. "It is always William now," Helen chuckled.

"How long has it been since the last time you called me Magnus?" She asked.

Against her better judgment, she turned around to face him. He couldn't meet her eyes, he had turned around when he felt her weight changing positions, her camisole had curled upwards, and there was a lot of skin on display from her hipbones, where her shorts started; to her waist, were the camisole had bundled up. He gulped.

"What are you talking about? I call you Magnus all the time," he said.

"William," she started, making him look into her eyes, her eyebrow raised. "It's been ages since you last called me Magnus when we are talking to each other." She could see the dumbfounded expression in his mind change to one of recognition. "Will you tell me if you want me to call you Will again?"

"I guess. I'm not sure if I want you to, I like how William sounds," 'specially when it's coming from your mouth,' he thought. "It's more professional," he finished.

"I believe you reached a point where you outgrew me calling you Will," she smiled tenderly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when you first arrived at the Sanctuary, you were easily awed, and you were my protégé, William. Back then, calling you Will fit. Now," she trailed. "You stopped calling me Doctor, Doc, Magnus, and I started being Helen. It seemed fitting that you would become William," she half shrugged, and then she bit her lower lip. "I do prefer William. It makes you a peer instead of a protégé."

"Okay," he said. Helen knew a million thoughts were running through his mind just by the way he looked at her.

"I don't suppose we need to discuss earlier?" Helen asked softly.

She didn't want to; she would happily keep that memory untainted in her mind. But if that would make him stop overthinking, she would also happily discuss it. He said nothing, so she sighed.

"I'm sorry, William. I know how much you value your personal space, and I'm sorry I entered it without prior consultation. I'm sorry I disrespected your choices over the possibility of having you camping out in the pouring rain once they threw us out of this strange ruled place. I considered our options, and it seemed healthier for your wellbeing."

"Helen," he whispered, interrupting her.

"I know, it won't happen again," she continued her tirade, not able to stop herself and listen to all the reasons why he thought the kiss was wrong.

"Helen," he tried again, smiling softly as he noticed the mix of worry and fear in her eyes.

"Yes, we can keep this as a secret. So your girlfriend will never need to know about this. Oh, no," she rubbed her face, tiredly, "knowing you, you won't be able to keep it quiet. You should send her my way with her questions once you tell her, and I'll assure her it was just for our safety."

"Helen!" he said in a loud whisper and moved his hand to cover her mouth and stop her from continuing. "I'm not angry, disturbed, or upset. I could've taken a step back, and if I recall, correctly I didn't. Yes, I agree we can keep it a secret if you want to. And no worries, there won't be a girlfriend visiting you asking for explanations about a kiss." He finished. She frowned.

"What about Liz?"

"What about her?"

"I thought you were his boyfriend, partner, whatever people and abnormals are naming that nowadays," she waved, and he chuckled.

"Oh, she is a friend."

"But I thought you were dating?"

"Ah, that," he sighed. "Liz happens to be an excellent listener, and since we are in similar situations, we are just using each other as support," he half shrugged. She frowned.

"Oh, William, you still at the girlfriend parade?"

"Girlfriend parade?"

"Yes, you've been changing girlfriends more than I change weapons," she chuckled. "I might be exaggerating a bit." He raised his eyebrows.

"It isn't like that," he sighed.

"What is it then, William? You can talk to me, you know? I'm your friend who happens to be a woman, I believe."

"That you happen to be a woman or that you happen to be my friend?" he joked, making her roll her eyes. "Nothing happens, Helen."

"William."

"Helen." She sighed.

"Very well, then tell me what was wrong with Liz as a date," she said.

"Nothing, she is funny, smart, and beautiful."

"However?"

'She isn't you,' he thought. "She is utterly in love with someone else, and she is comparing everyone else to him. I'm not him," he pointed out.

"Clara," she whispered.

"Huh?" he frowned, confused by that.

"You've mentioned being in similar situations. I believe the only time I've seen you in love was during your time with Clara. Trust me, William," she started and couldn't help as her hand moved forward and caressed his cheek slowly. "You will fall in love again, even if you don't try." She finished, her hand lowering down, searching for his free one. Once she found it, she gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Will wondered how oblivious she was at the fact that, even when he was with Clara, he was in love with her. Clara was sweet, cute, smart, and they would've lasted longer if she was willing to take his help, and of course, survived that night. However, no matter how good they got along in all aspects, she wasn't the woman he imagined when he was alone. It was simple, really. He loved Clara, but Clara wasn't Helen. Will was utterly in love with Helen.

"Talking from experience?" He asked then. Helen chewed her inner part of her cheeks and turned to lie on her back again, watching the ceiling. "You are thinking about John, aren't you?" She turned her head, and the tip of her lips curled slightly.

"No," she said firmly, and he believed it. She suckled her lips as if trying to figure out what to tell him. "I wasn't thinking about John, but if I must tell you the truth, I shall confess I thought I loved him," she took a deep breath.

"John was not only the first man I've ever been with; he also was the father of my child. Sure, that should have said enough about him. However, it wasn't until I found myself pointing a gun at him again, while he had Ashley as leverage when I figured I didn't love him. I am in love with him," Helen stated. Will frowned at this. "I know how it sounds, William. There's no need to frown. John and I spent a great amount of time together when we were young; yet, it was always a mix between being extremely busy and carefree, which always left me wondering if I loved him or I just cared about him. It wasn't until that day that I knew beyond any doubts when I saw him again, I faltered, and I couldn't kill him because I realized I was in love with him."

"Are you still?" Will asked, and she turned to lie on her side again. She bit her lower lip, searched his eyes, and nodded shortly. Then she huffed.

"It's bittersweet, I agree."

"But you said I would love again. How can you be so sure I will, when you are in love with the same man you've loved for over two hundred years?" He asked.

"Nothing is that simple, William. And at the same time, it stands in the subtlety between loving someone and being in love with someone. Love as a feeling can turn into hate, can pass, can evolve. I've loved people, and I stopped loving them after some time. However, being in love, it's different. It does not change; it does not go away, no matter how much you want it to. Trust me; you can lie to yourself; you can try to forget and can even try to kill them, yet, it will remain. The people you are in love with will be a part of you forever," she bit her lower lip once more. William noticed then that her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"There is no way to get rid of someone you are in love with, because the moment you fell in love, the moment you connected - you, not them,- you gave them a piece of your soul, and in some wonderful situations, they'll give you part of their souls back," she smiled sadly.

"Wow, that's, wow."

"I know, sounds uncharacteristically coming from me. I'm aware people, and abnormals alike believe I have no feelings anymore. I know you know better; you've been there when I lost many people I was in love with."

"John, James," he tried to think of someone else but couldn't come with more names.

"Ashley," she added.

The pain in her tone made him want to hold her tight and tell him he was there for her. But it wasn't until then that he understood the piece of the soul reference, and he figured he would give his soul entirely if it meant she wouldn't have to carry with the weight of Ashley's death by herself.

"People, most people, I suppose, say nothing compares to the feeling of losing a child," Helen whispered.

Her voice was sad, and Helen found herself pausing every once in a while to compose herself and keep her tears at bay. William lowered his hand, and as she did before, he searched for her hand, linked their fingers, and tried by that simple touch to reassure her for what there was no possible reassurance for.

"I've come to believe that these people weren't in love before. See, most people love someone, and they feel a desire that's greater than what they expected to feel. They feel shaky knees, racing hearts, and this weakened state of dependency where they see the other as their other half, and they sum it up as being in love."

"But, it isn't." He affirmed.

"No, it isn't. It's until they have a child when they understand what being in love truly is. You will always be in love with your child, they take a part of your soul, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop them," she smiled.

"I believe that being in love doesn't mean you are sexually attracted to the other. It means that you are willing to love them as they are and be there whenever they need you. Now, if you find someone that fills both parts, then you are in luck. Being in love and being sexually attracted aren't always part of the same package, and people don't realize this," Helen explained. "People seem to think both have to occur at the same time and with the same person, it is baffling how even in these times where sexuality is highly explored and carefree, people still believe that being in love with someone should mean that you need to bed them."

"So, you are saying you can be in a loving relationship and don't want to have sexual encounters with them?"

"What I'm saying, William is that it can happen," she smiled. "You'll need examples, of course. Since you didn't confirm Clara as the woman, you are in love with, allow me to ask if she appeared before or after you dated Abby?"

"Before," Will answered before he could stop himself.

"If you were in love with someone else, why did you date Abby then?" she asked, and he understood there was no judgment in her tone.

"Because I was attracted to her."

"Do you still lose your breath, or does your heart still skip a beat when you think of Abby?" he shook his head no. "In conclusion, you were attracted to Abby and, thus, dated her for a while. Now, did you love her?"

"I did."

"Now, let's go to the woman you are in love with," he smiled. "See a single thought of her made you smile. Are you sexually attracted to the woman you are in love with?" he nodded. "And have you made any advances to take her to your bed?"

"No."

"But you didn't have any qualms on getting Abby to bed you," she pointed out, and he opened his mouth to explain himself. She waved dismissively. "Don't, it's completely different, I know. I'm not a Psychiatrist as you are, William, but I have enough experience living. And no matter how much in love I'm with Nikola since the day we've met, we only made it pass flirting once or twice in the however long we've known each other," she confessed.

"You are in love with Nikola?" he asked, astounded by the confession. Thankfully, his surprise covered his heartbreak.

"Yes."

"And you let him go?"

"Of course! I'm in love with him, and Nikola is in love with me. He won't ever force me to do anything I don't want to do, and I would never force him to do anything he doesn't. That means, when he doesn't want to remain at the hollow earth, he goes away. And whenever he wants to get back, he will. The same applies to my actions for him."

"I think I get it," Will said, and then he huffed. "Geez, how many people are you in love with?" She chuckled.

"It's absolutely sad to be in love with the number of people I am in love with, William. I fell in love for the first time when I was nineteen. Thus, I have 263 years of experience."

"You mean you are in love with 263 men?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, William. Everyone knows I'm not biased by gender, and no, I'm not in love with 263 people, but the list is quite numbered," she blushed.

"How do you live with it?"

"Well, how do you live without Ashley?" Helen asked bluntly, and he coughed.

"Why Ashley?"

"William, you were in love with Ashley. Not in the sense of 'throw her into your bed and do as rabbits do,' but it the 'I will die for you' kind of way." She smiled and pondered her question.

"Won't my answer bother you?" He frowned.

"No, William, we all cope differently. We all mourn differently."

"Okay," he huffed. "I don't think of Ashley often anymore. I used to think of Ash once or twice a day. Especially when we were at the Old Sanctuary, you know?" he smiled, and she nodded knowingly as his eyes got lost in memories. Her hand found him again.

"Passing by the gym, or her room, or the kitchen, the garage, every place where she would mock me before, would bring memories, and I would miss her then. But, now, there aren't memories of her in the building, and she doesn't slip in my mind that often," he smiled sadly. Helen's eyes filled with tears, and she inhaled deeply.

"And that's how you do it, William," Helen whispered. "There are days you walk around, and it's as they say: if eyes don't see the heart doesn't feel. Yet, there are days when even the most stupid blob in the air makes you remind them, makes you miss them," she gulped, her lower lip trembled, and a tear finally fell. "Those days make you understand exactly how much you loved them." She turned to lie on her back again and unlinked their hands to clear the tears she was shedding.

"It's not Ashley," he stated. "If being in love is how you describe it, I didn't realize I was in love with her until now, Helen. I was in love with her as the sister I didn't have and never knew I wanted," he raised his hand, and this time he searched her hand again.

"I know, William," she gave his hand another light squeeze before re-releasing him. "I hope that whoever you are in love, loves you back. I also hope you both get a chance to live that love. It is marvelous," she sniffed. "I'm sorry, it seems I'm overly sentimental today. I'm uncertain of why. Maybe I had too much wine," she barely turned her head to smile sadly at him. "You should sleep, William. Don't listen to me; I'm just an old woman that has baggage that's too big."

"You are the strongest person I know, Helen." He whispered firmly, his hand raised to touch her, but he stopped midway. "I believe you, even if I don't want to fall in love with anyone else. For all it matters, I'll die happy knowing I've loved her," Will stated and turned to lie on his back too, their bodies touching slightly. "I thought you've said the bed was huge," he joked when her leg brushed his, and she quickly withdrew it.

"Oh shush, you know I sleep on my side. We've been this close-quartered before," Helen pointed out. Carentan, he remembered and scrunched his nose.

"Well, it wasn't our best time."

"No, it wasn't. You were feeling caged in a life you didn't want for yourself, and I wanted to get out of there before the whole situation became a worldwide tragedy. Our time in Carentan is not exactly what I would call an ideal, close-quarters situation." She chuckled, turning to her side, with her back towards him. "There, you should have enough space now," she said from above her shoulder.

Will grinned and turned around, laying on his chest. To his distress, he found that, if he lowered his hand as he usually would, it would be too close to the small of her back. If he pulled it up, she would end up waking up to his arm when she turned around to figure out how to get up without waking him. He kept his hand raised while he was figuring what to do with it, and she saw the shadow created by it.

"What's wrong?" She sighed amusedly.

"There's not enough space for my arm, it seems," he frowned.

"Are you all set? Besides the arm, I mean," she chuckled.

"Yes?"

"Okay."

"Okay, what?" he asked before he saw her raise her arm and link their hands together. Then surprising him further, she lowered the tangled extremities closer to her chest.

"Are you comfortable like this?" Helen asked.

'It's heaven,' he thought. It wasn't only comfortable; he had to take a deep breath noticing he was, by all intents and purposes, holding her. His hand was so close to her heart that he feared he would have a heart attack.

"Hmm, yes?" he answered, feeling flustered.

"Okay," she added, sounding like her usual self. "Claim it back if it goes numb."

Helen tried to sound calm, to make him feel it was just a favor for a friend, and not a way to make him hold her for the night without him knowing it. She bit her lip. Maybe she was taking a bit too much from this close encounter, But, having been in love with him for over a hundred years was weighing heavily on her that day.

Even if Helen felt all the right needs with him, she had never acted on them, because at first, it didn't seem fair for him, and then, he never seemed interested in her. After so long together, their friendship became almost a lifeline to her.

"William?" she asked, after a while of being in silence, if only to stop her wandering mind. She raised her head slightly, and with her free hand, she accommodated her hair, still not letting his hand go.

"Yes?" he whispered, his tone told her he was close to falling asleep.

"With all the chances you had, and all the times I made you go past your breaking point. Why did you never leave?" she asked, he frowned. There was another silence as he tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't explicitly be 'you are the one I'm in love with.'

"I don't know, Helen," he offered, flinching at his blatant lie.

"Oh," she said, and for some reason, he found berating himself. Wondering what exactly she expected as an answer for that. "Good night, William."

"Sweet dreams, Helen."

Helen was bone tired, and still, she couldn't stop thinking, it was ages since she last had felt that comfortable sleeping in someone's arms. She wondered what she was doing, not for the first time since William had returned to her. 'To the Sanctuary,' she amended.

'William is not Nikola, Helen,' she thought, 'at some point, he will leave you, and there will be no chances of getting him back.' She felt her throat close, she gasped for air, the immensity of that truth spiraling her into despair.

"Helen?" Will called after listening to the gasp. He tried to move his hand, thinking it was his fault, but she grabbed it tightly, not letting it go. "Helen, are you okay?" She felt him move, almost spooning her, but still too far away from touching her. She bit her lower lip and nodded.

"Yes," she croaked out.

He could feel by the position of his hand, the rapid way in which she was breathing, and he started to worry about her wellbeing. Trapped as he was with her clutching his hand as if it was her lifeline, Will did the only thing he could think about, all his fears and walls were damned. He plastered himself against the length of her body, embracing her as tightly as he could, and linked their legs together, trying not to think much about how perfectly she fit and felt against him.

"I'm here, Helen, whatever is going on, I'm here for you," Will whispered against her ear and couldn't avoid but press a light kiss under it. Helen whimpered, letting go of his hand, she turned around in place. William raised his arm to allow her to move, and once she surprised him snuggling close to his chest, he lowered his arm again, to leave it resting softly on her back.

William had seen her look vulnerable on so few occasions since he had met her that he had almost forgotten that the woman in his arms wasn't as untouchable as most believed. She moved her head from its hiding place and looked at him. Helen was sucking her lower lip doubtfully, her eyes were filled with unshed tears, and it left Will out of breath as her hand raised to caress his face as he was the most precious thing on Earth.

William couldn't avoid closing his eyes and relish in the feeling of her hands in his face. It was something she had done many times during the years for treating him, but now, it felt different, so much more sentiment seemed to seep through her fingers. It was his turn to whimper.

"Oh," she left out, noticing that such a simple action was creating a reaction on her William. 'What did you expect, Helen, he is, a male,' she scolded herself before she stopped, closed her eyes, and buried her head against his chest, wishing that his reaction was for her and not by the situation she had placed them in.

"You've mentioned regret, Helen," Will said after a while, once he had controlled his voice again, but still came a bit too low. She nodded against him; he inhaled deeply.

"Could fear of ruining something you have become a regret?" Will whispered. She untangled herself from him, laying on her back again. He saw her observe the ceiling before she sighed.

"Yes. No?" Helen huffed. "I suppose it depends on what you are ruining and why you are ruining it."

Will remained quiet for a while, trying to figure out how to get what he wanted to say in the open without giving himself away.

"Let's say Liz is in love with her best friend, but she never told him. She is afraid he won't feel the same that once he knows, it will change his actions towards her. In that case, what would you do?" Helen chuckled, a hint of some bittersweet feelings escaped with it.

"I've done it all. It's quite the conundrum, William. Friendship is something we as social beings' value too much. So it is love. Is love worth it? Absolutely. Is friendship worth it? Yes, it is. However, when you don't know if you will be able to keep both, then you ought to choose, and it is hell."

"What would you do in Liz's place?"

"I'm not sure, William. A long time ago, I would've told him when I felt strong enough to let it out. But now," she looked up and sighed. "I've lost too many people, and I've been rejected too many times. I suppose that if it is a rightful friendship, he will remain her friend like James did. It requires a mature person to keep someone who rejected your love as a friend."

"Feeling better now?" he asked, trying to change subjects.

"I guess," she shrugged. She turned her head to watch him. "I'm curious now; what would you do, William?" It was his turn to look everywhere but to her before he sighed.

"I couldn't decide before," he shrugged. Helen frowned and turned to her side to observe him.

"Whatever that means?"

"So far, I've never dared. It's different from all the girls I've dated. There was this attraction, and it was obvious to both of us. But with her," he trailed. Helen frowned, trying hard to figure out who it might be, "the price could be too much."

"If it isn't, and you are keeping yourself away only out of fear?" She asked bluntly. He opened his mouth several times, but he couldn't utter a word.

'Come on, William. It's Helen! if someone will be at your side even if she doesn't feel the same, it will be her.' He thought but shook his head.

"Will I be able to live with the consequences if she says no?" he wondered. She smiled sadly, and out of its own volition, her hand found his face again.

"Would you be able to live with the consequences of not saying anything to her and watch her move on?" Helen asked, then. That he could answer, with eyes closed enjoying the feeling of her warmth nearby, he shook his head no. "Then, you know your answer, William."

He opened his eyes to see her smiling sadly at him, and he wondered why that sadness was consuming her out of the blue. It wasn't there early that day, and he was sure of it.

"No matter what her answer is, William, she's one hell of a lucky girl," she finished. He felt that sadness again, pouring out of her and engulfing him too. 'It couldn't be what he was imaging, could it? His beautiful and unattainable Helen couldn't be sad over him loving someone else?'

"I…," she sighed, taking her hand back. "I should try to sleep, and so should you," she said. She was turning around, away from him, when he threw caution to the wind.

"I love you," he said. If only to stop her from running away from him by pretending to find sleep, he knew it wouldn't come. Not when everything was up in the air, and they both were too much too vulnerable. Not when the room buzzed with secrets that both were trying too hard to keep inside. It did it, she stopped mid-twist and got back to her original position sideways looking at him.

"What?" was all she managed, and she should've facepalmed herself by such an awkward response. Still, it was William, the man she was in love with for too many years to keep counting them, the one who made her feel complete even if she never thought of herself as an incomplete being before. She frowned.

"Oh, God. I," under her gaze, he started to apologize, but she smiled softly, the frown still in place as if she was trying to understand the most complicated puzzle.

Helen reached out for him again, her hand could not stop touching him as it had been happening the whole night. Her thumb reached his lips and trailed them softly. And then she laughed. Will blushed and was trying to come up with a way to get out of the complete mess he had walked in.

"Thank God," she said.

"Huh?" They looked at each other, and now they both laughed, it made little sense to be laughing at that moment, but they were because it was what they needed to lower the tension that was threating with consuming them whole.

"I suppose that you left the cat out of the bag," Helen grinned once they managed to be serious again.

"Will you kick me now?" he asked, blushing.

"Why would I do that?" Helen frowned.

"Because," he trailed, waving his hand in the air.

"What I shall do is get the proverbial elephant out of the room, William," Helen smiled. "Is it true, what you've said? I'm not judging."

"I," he was going to apologize, to deny it, but something in her eyes told him not to do it. He nodded yes before he could say it. "Yes."

"And would you kick me, as you put it if I told you I've been in love with you since the time I've met you?"

"Yeah, right! That would be a whole lifetime and then some," Will snorted.

Helen smiled and searched the light on the top of her side so he could see she wasn't lying. Not to him, never to him anymore. He blinked a couple of times to get used to the light.

"Can you see me now?" he nodded. "I love you, William. I've been in love with you since the day you called me crazy, and I continued to love you, even when you weren't even born yet."

"I… Wow, I," he frowned. "I can't compete with that," he left out. "But I've certainly fallen in love with you along that same line," she chuckled at his silliness. "Can I?" he started, and she nodded before he kissed her, and as he was engulfing her, she turned the lights off.

"We should sleep, husband," she chuckled against his lips, once they had needed for air.

"You are saying no consummation of our love will happen tonight, darling?" he joked on his awful fake accent.

"Never on the first date," she grinned.

"So when we get home, then?" He grinned mischievously, and she shook her head, amused. "I mean, I have to fulfill almost one hundred thirty years of longings," Will wriggled his eyebrows, and she kissed him.

"No worries, love. I will make you fulfill every single moment of them," Helen said as a promise.

"I like the sound of it… love," Will said. "You know, with you, all the leaps of faith are massive but ever so rewarding." She laughed.

"I suppose this isn't my doing, William. I wasn't the one asking couples to kiss after dinner."

"So we are sending them wine," he affirmed seriously.

"The best ones we have."

_The end._


End file.
